PM Netanyahu: Israel prepared for 'expansion' of Gaza offensive

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel is prepared to widen its
Gaza offensive significantly as it continues to unleashed intensive air
strikes on the coastal enclave.

2:16PM GMT 18 Nov 2012

"We are exacting a heavy price from Hamas and the terrorist organisations and the Israel Defence Forces are prepared for a significant expansion of the operation," Mr Netanyahu told his cabinet.

He gave no specifics and made no mention of the possibility of a ground offensive.

Also on Sunday, Israel bombed Palestinian militant targets in the Gaza Strip from air and sea for a fifth straight day, preparing for a possible ground invasion while also spelling out its conditions for a truce.

Palestinian fire into Israel subsided during the night but resumed in the morning, with two rockets targeting Tel Aviv. Both were shot down by Israel's Iron Dome air shield.

Fifty Palestinians, about half of them civilians, including 14 children, have been killed since the Israeli offensive began, Palestinian officials said. More than 500 rockets fired from Gaza have hit Israel, killing three civilians.

Israel unleashed intensive air strikes on Wednesday, killing the military commander of the Hamas Islamist group that governs Gaza and spurns peace with the Jewish state.

Israel's declared goal is to deplete Gaza arsenals and press Hamas into stopping cross-border rocket fire that has plagued Israeli border towns for years and which has now targeted Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.